Creating tabs in WinRT

Question

I'm working on a C#/XAML Metro style app for Windows 8. The XAML in WinRT does not have a "tab" control. However, I'm trying to emulate the way a result in the Windows 8 store looks. For instance, this image shows "Overview", "Details", and "Reviews" tabs:

How do I create these?

A RadioButton seems to make sense. I figured I could use the GroupName to ensure only one item is selected. But if I use a RadioButton, I don't know how to make the selected item look dark gray while makig the other options light gray. Can someone show me the XAML of a RadioButton that does not show the little checked thingy? And also is dark gray when selected and light gray when not selected.

Thank you so much!

Answer 1

Here is the style to use for radio buttons to make them look/work like tabs:

    <!-- Style for radio buttons used as tab control -->
<Style x:Key="TabRadioButtonStyle" TargetType="RadioButton">
    <Setter Property="Template">
        <Setter.Value>
            <ControlTemplate TargetType="RadioButton">
                <Grid>
                    <VisualStateManager.VisualStateGroups>
                        <VisualStateGroup x:Name="CheckStates">
                            <VisualState x:Name="Unchecked">
                                <Storyboard>
                                    <ColorAnimation Duration="0" To="Gray" Storyboard.TargetProperty="(TextBlock.Foreground).(SolidColorBrush.Color)" Storyboard.TargetName="TabButtonText" />
                                </Storyboard>
                            </VisualState>
                            <VisualState x:Name="Indeterminate">
                                <Storyboard>
                                    <ColorAnimation Duration="0" To="White" Storyboard.TargetProperty="(TextBlock.Foreground).(SolidColorBrush.Color)" Storyboard.TargetName="TabButtonText" />
                                </Storyboard>
                            </VisualState>
                            <VisualState x:Name="Checked">
                                <Storyboard>
                                    <ColorAnimation Duration="0" To="Black" Storyboard.TargetProperty="(TextBlock.Foreground).(SolidColorBrush.Color)" Storyboard.TargetName="TabButtonText" />
                                </Storyboard>
                            </VisualState>

                        </VisualStateGroup>
                    </VisualStateManager.VisualStateGroups>
                    <TextBlock x:Name="TabButtonText" Text="{TemplateBinding Content}" Style="{StaticResource GroupHeaderTextStyle}" HorizontalAlignment="Left"/>
                </Grid>
            </ControlTemplate>
        </Setter.Value>
    </Setter>
</Style>

You can then define a grid to hold the tab stack panel and a frame to hold the content associated with each tab. Use Click event on the radio buttons to navigate the frame to the appropriate pages for each "tab".

 <Grid Grid.Row="1"
        Margin="120,0,56,56">
        <!-- Row 1 to hold the "Tabs", Row 2 to hold the content -->
        <Grid.RowDefinitions>
            <RowDefinition Height="Auto"/>
            <RowDefinition Height="*" />
        </Grid.RowDefinitions>
        <StackPanel Grid.Row="0" Orientation="Horizontal">
            <RadioButton x:Name="Tab1" Content="Tab1" Style="{StaticResource TabRadioButtonStyle}" IsChecked="True" Click="Tab1_Clicked" />
            <RadioButton x:Name="Tab2" Content="Tab2" Style="{StaticResource TabRadioButtonStyle}" IsChecked="False" Click="Tab2_Clicked" Margin="30,0,0,0" />
            <RadioButton x:Name="Tab3" Content="Tab3" Style="{StaticResource TabRadioButtonStyle}" IsChecked="False" Click="Tab3_Clicked" Margin="30,0,0,0"/>
        </StackPanel>
        <Frame x:Name="ContentFrame" Margin="0,20,0,0" Grid.Row="1" Background="{StaticResource SandstormBackgroundBrush}" Loaded="ContentFrame_Loaded" />
    </Grid>